Rob makes wonderful points about the noise in the stadium and how opposing teams react to it. We saw it against Ohio State in 2005 with Troy Smith.

I myself have experienced it. As a student at Penn State in the Blue Band I've spent many final minutes of halves and games on the sidelines waiting to perform. The loudest I experienced as a student was in 1997 against, you guess it, Ohio State.

Both Penn State and Ohio State were top ranked for that game. Entering the fourth quarter Penn State was down by 3, but soon scored a touchdown to go up 31-27. With time ticking down though Ohio State was moving toward the endzone. I remember standing a few feet in back of the Ohio State bench, mere yards away from John Cooper while 97,282 fans, (a record for the time) screamed at the top of their lungs. I was standing next to a fellow student and tried to tell him something. As loud as I yelled, as hard as I screamed I could not be heard, nor did I hear my friend.

So if someone ever tells you that a loud stadium doesn't hurt an opposing team, they're lying. It does. This was before 10,000 seats were added in the south end zone and before the large scoreboards and luxury boxes were added, further closing in the already loud stadium. Now in extreme cases it's downright unbearable. So having a whiteout, and screaming your lungs out is a great way to help your Nittany Lions against a formidable opponent.

Now, Alabama has some talented starters returning. Their age, maturity, and experience will help them weather the the intimidation, but it will still give them fits.

Another thing that Alabama has in their favor when it comes to surviving the "white out" is that they are used to playing in some large stadiums.

According to sportige.com, Alabama plays in the 10th largest college stadium. Other SEC schools, LSU, Georgia, and Tennessee, all make the top 10 list.

So, it will be a tough game, and a "white out" along with committed and loud fans will do their part to vanquish this gridiron foe. As usual the game will still be won with the kids on the field.